Movie Review | 'Like Mike'

Slamming Dunks, Thanks to Magic Sneakers

By ELVIS MITCHELL

Published: July 3, 2002

The N.B.A. isn't exactly getting a vote of confidence from the American cinemathèque these days. In "Juwanna Mann" a spoiled N.B.A. star has to dress like a girl and join the W.N.B.A. to learn a lesson in maturity. And in "Like Mike" 13-year-old Calvin (Lil Bow Wow) turns around the Los Angeles franchise, courtesy of a pair of magic sneakers. (And yes, a self-absorbed basketball star is forced to grow up here, too.) We can only hope David Stern, the N.B.A. commissioner, isn't taking notes, especially since Michael Jordan, who may have owned the shoes that Calvin finds, may not return to the league next season.

The director, John Schultz, gets a lot from his little star — not, incidentally, his Lil star, since Bow Wow has decided that the next evolutionary stage in his career involves dropping the adjective from his nom de hip-hop. Bow Wow has bright animated eyes and such a natural, easy camera rapport that you wonder how Calvin managed to get to be 13 still trapped in a Los Angeles orphanage that would send a chill through the Artful Dodger's rags.

The place is run by a greedy, distracted administrator, Mr. Bittleman (Crispin Glover), who has more interest in his electronic chessboard than in any of the kids under his care. Calvin is not showing skills on the back court, but his prowess is magically enhanced by the aforementioned shoes, a pair of Nikes.

There's not much of a story. It's a piece of wish fulfillment given a chewy candy center, as if it weren't sweet enough. Calvin's new powers are observed when he wins a chance to shoot against (sigh) the spoiled N.B.A. star Tracey Reynolds (Morris Chestnut) during a half-time promotional stunt. The fictional team of unmotivated losers is called the Los Angeles Knights, so a team like, say, the Washington Wizards shouldn't be compelled to file a definition of character suit, especially since Mr. Jordan gave a pair of his shoes to his Wizards teammate Courtney Alexander in real life.

After a bit of protest from the team's rabid promotions director, Frank Bernard (Eugene Levy), the Knights' cosmically unflappable Coach Wagner (Robert Forster), goes along with the idea of having Calvin join the team, fueled by the enthusiasm of the audience and television commentators. Any movie lucky enough to feature a single shot with Mr. Levy, Mr. Forster and Mr. Glover — three actors with odd and unique timing — deserves an audience.

A number of real-life N.B.A. stars, like Allen Iverson, turn up to look askance at Calvin, and part of Mr. Iverson's disdain must show that the very young and charismatic star of "Like Mike" sells more rap CD's than he does and is a more generous passer. (David Robinson is especially funny.)

The successful kid rapper Bow Wow is a talented actor whose boyish eagerness here is a marked contrast to his taciturn rappadocio. He holds his own with Jonathan Lipnicki, who along with Brenda Song plays one of Calvin's equally unadoptable best friends. If lil' — pardon me, little — charmers like these can't get parents in Los Angeles, this alone explains why the movie industry is in trouble.

This movie is like some N.B.A.-sanctioned remake of "Rookie of the Year," in which a boy is gifted with the talent to join a pro baseball team. And there's a nod to the documentary "Hoop Dreams," in which the über-competitive Isaiah Thomas refuses to let a kid score on him.

Here, Tracey tries to run D on Calvin, only to have the gods — and special effects — humiliate him. When he and Calvin become roommates, his anger is doubled, until Calvin drives the sleepy Knights player back to their hotel. And even in a scene as contrived as this — it's one in a series, like a new group of trading cards — Bow Wow's unaffected comic abilities are evident.

The director's breezy steadiness keeps the movie from hitting us over the head — well, not too hard, anyway, no small feat since the steroid-juiced sentimentality of the ending may force some to flee before the outtakes unspool under the credits.

Amusingly, Calvin's fantasy is to be adopted by a family like the one that took in Will Smith in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Cinéastes will have a field day dealing with this as a metaphor for the young rapper's ambitions to become a film star. Others will get a laugh, since Bow Wow is going head to head with Mr. Smith's "Men in Black" sequel.

But for Calvin, the only real danger comes when a scheme materializes to take his shoes before a big game, and a chase scene follows, involving motorized Razor scooters versus cars. Surprisingly, there's no on-screen admonition warning kids not to try this at home. Another scene offers a worse example of dangerous behavior when Calvin, staying in a hotel for the first time, asks what room service is. Tracey tells him he can get anything he wants free. Vacationing parents are going to have a lot to explain to impressionable young children.

Directed by John Schultz; written by Michael Elliot and Jordan Moffet, based on a story by Mr. Elliot; director of photography, Shawn Maurer; edited by Peter Berger and John Pace; music by Richard Gibbs; production designer, Arlan Jay Vetter; produced by Barry Josephson and Peter Heller; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 100 minutes. This film is rated PG.